May 9, 2010
Lexington, Ky. – Kentucky erased an early 3-0 deficit and scored nine unanswered runs on its way to a 9-3 victory over South Carolina in the rubber game of a three-game SEC baseball series. Kentucky is now 26-21 and 9-15 in the SEC while the loss drops Carolina to 36-11 and 17-7 in conference play. It is the first time this season that the Gamecocks have lost a series in SEC play ending a streak of 10 consecutive SEC series won dating back to the 2009 season. South Carolina returns to action on Tuesday night hosting Wofford with first pitch at 7 p.m. at Carolina Stadium. The game will be televised live on SportSouth and can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network.
Kentucky starting pitcher Alex Meyer worked seven innings in the Wildcat victory. He allowed three runs, all unearned, on four hits with six strikeouts, three walks and two hit batters. He is now 5-2 for the season. Gamecock reliever Jose Mata suffered the loss and is now 5-1 on the year. He allowed one run on one hit in 0.2 innings of work.
South Carolina broke ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning. Carolina caught a break as Christian Walker reached base with two outs on a fielding error by second baseman Chris Bisson, who was unable to come up with the backhand attempt allowing Walker to reach base. Kentucky starter Alex Meyer didn’t help himself as he hit Nick Ebert with a 0-2 pitch to put a pair of runners on base. Adrian Morales drove in the first run of the game with a single up the middle that scored Walker. Adam Matthews followed with a RBI base hit to right center plating home Ebert. With runners on the corners, Kentucky catcher Marcus Nidiffer couldn’t handle a high pitch from Meyer and had a passed ball allowing Matthews to score giving the Gamecocks a three-run lead.
The Wildcats would tally three solo home runs in the first four innings to tie the game at 3-3. Gunner Glad put Kentucky on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning as he knocked a two-out solo home run to left field. Glad hit the first pitch he saw from Brown for his 11th home run of the season. Marcus Nidiffer tallied a solo home run of his own to lead off the second inning to left center, his eighth of the year. Then in the fourth, Taylor Black knocked a 3-1 pitch from Brown that just cleared the wall and stayed fair down the right field line for his ninth homer of the year to knot the game up.
Kentucky went ahead 4-3 in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Chris Bisson stole second base and scored on Chad Wright’s single up the middle. Kentucky got some important insurance in the bottom of the seventh to increase the lead to 5-3. Neiko Johnson was hit by a pitch with one out and Bisson drew a walk to give the wildcats a pair of runners. After a fielder’s choice nabbed Bisson, the Wildcats had runners on the corners with two outs. On a 1-0 pitch, Gunner Glad knocked a high chopper to short that Bobby Haney could not handle allowing Johnson to score and giving the Wildcats a two-run cushion. Kentucky finished off the scoring in the eighth inning with four runs. Cory Farris had a RBI double and Bisson had a key two-run single as the Wildcats increased the advantage to 9-3.
Kentucky finished with a 8-4 advantage in hits with eight different players recording hits. Adam Matthews was 2-for-3 to lead the Gamecocks.
